February Update – Product Delay, Hardware, DRM, Content, and more!

It’s been a very busy couple of months and we’ve had to make some hard decisions about how to move forward. We’ve decided to release the product when it is ready, and anticipate that to be in August 2015. Let us explain more.

Matchstick is, at its core, a group effort to bring a solid, open, and affordable alternative to the world of video streaming. Manufacturing is hard, but the totality of what makes a product experience complete includes so much more. That collaborative effort includes the hardware, the software, the content providers, and of course, the independent developers that will build on the Matchstick platform.

Hardware: We want to update the hardware. We’ve been looking at a number of exciting applications and potential experiences for Matchstick and we’ve determined we need to give it as much power as possible. So we’ve been looking to increase the CPU power from a dual core to a quad core chip. We’ve also been looking into common issues with Wi-Fi performance. Because of the location of most HMDI ports on HDTVs, many similar products have Wi-Fi connectivity issues. We’ve spent some considerable time reviewing ways to improve the antenna to ensure a consistent connection that some of the applications will require. We’ll keep you posted of course on the newest stats and specifics! Finally, we are eating the cost to improve the hardware, and passing along the benefits of improved hardware to our backers. It’s a cost we are willingly paying for the promise of a better product.

Software: With a new processor, we have some new opportunities. Matchstick, with Firefox OS inside, is being updated to support DRM (Digital Rights Management) capability. As you know, many premium content providers such as Netflix require DRM support. Matchstick has undertaken the mission to develop DRM as an independent project with the open source community. In fact, we’d love for you to get involved! If you’re a developer specializing in EME, MSE, and CDM technologies, we’d love to hear from you. We plan to use the Microsoft PlayReady technology and are excited to bring premium content to Matchstick. We’ll keep you updated as we work to contribute newly developed source codes for DRM back to the open community. It’s our goal to make sure open source technology doesn’t mean 2nd tier content and experiences!

Content Providers: We are continually in talks with all the content you will want to experience on your Matchstick. DRM is a barrier and has become our primary focus, and as we work to nail that down we continue to explore new opportunities to upgrade the entire Matchstick experience. We have been looking at some very exciting possibilities! We can’t wait to show you in the coming months.

Independent developers: We’ve seen some incredible possible use cases for Matchstick and want to make sure the developer community’s creativity is not hindered by hardware or software limitations. We feel strongly about supporting developers with something much more than a hacked Chromecast type device. The updates to Matchstick will ensure that.

We’ve learned a lot about Matchstick since last fall. Most importantly, we learned that we had struck a nerve with consumers and brands alike. So we’ve been working to make sure we build a community not just a product. We’ve been arranging partnerships, hiring team members, and taking steps to ensure Matchstick is more than just a one off product and will be announcing more partnerships, hires, and even some further funding in the coming months.

So there it is! We hope you agree it’s better to make a small sacrifice now for a bigger gain later. Our goal is to bring a whole new way of interacting with the screens around you with an easy to use, powerful, and customizable platform. We have big ambitions, but with your help, we are certain we can get there. Thanks for all of your support!

- The Matchstick Team

PS- Speaking of support - We've also Implemented our support and developer center! Be sure to check it out when you get a chance, especially if you are among our esteemed developers!

"We’ve also been looking into common issues with Wi-Fi performance. Because of the location of most HMDI ports on HDTVs, many similar products have Wi-Fi connectivity issues. We’ve spent some considerable time reviewing ways to improve the antenna to ensure a consistent connection that some of the applications will require."

Here's a novel idea (actually, two ideas): Since you are completely redesigning the hardware from scratch anyway, get a 5 GHz wifi chip. And just add a socket for an external antenna.

http://www.sjpd.org/ - to report an offence >>>matchstick: no guaranteed repayment / refound no feedback signal on email .... ! this is my feeback for this "nice" company matchstick.tv from San Jose CA

I am disappointed and piss off! matchstick writes of refund and amazon ID, refound tries I for weeks!!! those do not understand absolutely, which buy via CC and without amazon were locked, I do not get back no feedback and my money. what is 'matchstick', which behave themselves badly, which is that, I cheated? :-(((

I'm a buyer not a backer ; I thought I was buying a product ready to launch but it turns out there is a strong possibility no manufacturing facility has been engaged . There's lots of meetings and conventions and money being spent but none of it produces anything . This is pure snake oil plain and simple .

You should have posted this update back in December; many people wouldn't have felt as screwed-over if you had.

I'm not cancelling the pledge even I though I'd have every right to.

That said, since you pushed back the shipping date for the device-- how about adding a DRM toggle switch to the device. With it enabled, NetFlix functions normally-- with it disabled, NetFlix is disabled and attempting to use it will result in an error message.
This will allow those who don't use, don't want DRM to feel not as jipped over that broken promise.

If you want to cancel your pledge because of the ex-post addition of DRM, this is the process.
Quote from Matchstick.tv:
"Please reply with your Amazon Transaction ID (the long alphanumeric Transaction ID on your original purchase record from Amazon) and send it to us along with your full name and email address you used for the original purchase, and the purchase amount."

Quote from Kickstarter support:
"Willis with Kickstarter Support here. Thanks for reaching out! The Amazon transaction ID is available for any pledges that have already been collected. You can find it in the confirmation email that Amazon sends once a pledge is collected, or on Amazon Payments in your Account Overview, linked below. If you don't see anything when logging in to Amazon Payments, please be sure to select the correct date range during which your pledge was collected.

So basically you login to payments.amazon.com, figure out the payment made to Purplecomm, Inc. get the transaction ID, your kickstarter email address and send those information via KS to Matchstick.tv.

I am really sad that I am canceling this pledge. I have absolutely no problem waiting 1 year more than promised. I would not even have had a strong issue losing money on this project and not getting ANYTHING. Projects can fail.

There is a simple reason though: *I don't want MY money to fund ANYTHING related to DRM*, though. It is bad. Bad for you and me that you made this bad move, Matchstick.tv. Sad times.

If you want a refund because the project is going DRM and thus a completely different way than initially purposed by the project creators looking for us investors:

*

"Please message us directly on Kickstarter if you require a refund. This is to protect your privacy because we need to know some private information about your purchase in order to refund you.

Through Kickstarter, send us the Amazon Transaction ID (the long alphanumeric Transaction ID on your original purchase record from Amazon) along with your full name and email address you used for the original purchase, and the purchase amount. Once we receive all this information from you, we will process your refund through Amazon as soon as we can. "*

Superbacker

For the folks asking about a refund, from one of their comments on the support & developer site they linked to:

"Please message us directly on Kickstarter if you require a refund. This is to protect your privacy because we need to know some private information about your purchase in order to refund you.

Through Kickstarter, send us the Amazon Transaction ID (the long alphanumeric Transaction ID on your original purchase record from Amazon) along with your full name and email address you used for the original purchase, and the purchase amount. Once we receive all this information from you, we will process your refund through Amazon as soon as we can. "

Some folks are saying it is taking a couple of weeks, but the refunds to seem to be being processed...

Send your complaints thru Kickstarter. I had to do it on YET ANOTHER backed project, (still have not received since November) They did correspond with me. but still no product.
In Kickstarters attempt to be a forward moving company that helps start up companies they filed to realize the implication of THERE obligation as well as not having the power (as per there own statement about these start ups) to ensure the investors "US" get what they invested in.
Now don't get me wrong, I have received some fun items but recently honesty and good business practices have become a inconvenience to the startups actual agenda.

If I had know you guys were going to pull this one I would have gotten a Chromecast. We have been waiting patiently for this device and I'm not waiting till August. I would like a refund as well so I can go get the Chromecast. I'm sorry it had to come to this.

The main problem I see with any crowd funding project is poor communication. To wait until the month that you promised it would ship and then be off by 6 months is disrespectful to your supporters. To find out the delay is partly due to a creeping scope that does not have support from your customers is self serving.
Put out an update every 7-14 days so we can hear that there is progress. If you had kept us informed from the beginning you would not have had this backlash with your customers.
PS @ErvinKosch - The original delivered date cannot be changed on the Kickstarter projects - you don't want it to be changed, otherwise you would not know how the project delivery really came out. I do believe Kickstarter should have a separate updated estimated delivery date so it would be easier to see the new estimate rather than reading through updates. When the project is finished, it would also be easier to review a new project from their past project deliveries (if they had any).

I wanted an open stick, I already have enough DRM encumbered devices. Why not ship what we pledged for?
if content creators and providers see people preferring DRM unencumbered devices they will start providing DRM free content. If everyone submits to this ridiculous constraint then they have no reason to do it.

Bottom line. ship what you promised. If later you want to have a version with DRM, then so be it, but don't do it with the money from backers that support true open architectures and designs.

This is a huge disappointment! We never backed a DRM-restricted device! We just wanted to support the free alternative you promised. Ask your backers: Almost all of them hate DRM and did back Matchstick for this reason.
Please provide refund information. I no longer support this project as the project goals did change completely.

The matchstick is not really a Mozilla project, is it? From what I recall, they are independent and just use Firefox OS as their basis. Nevertheless. As long as people communicate, issues and problems can be ironed out. But what the "creator" does here is shameful, arrogant and disastrous for the whole crowdfunding community. I hope kickstarter is aware of this and reminds them of their duties.

What I find really amazing is that it's been over 2 weeks, and you guys haven't responded to any of your backers. I believe that you are in breach of the Kickstarter Terms of Use. I respectfully ask you to refund my money. If need be, evidence of this statement will and can be provided.

thanks for keeping us up to date on the status of the project. I understand the need for a DRM system as the need by many of the big name content providers (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Google, etc.) will not extend support to your device without some sort of DRM system. I will be looking forward to your final product with anticipation. One problem I noticed with my Roku is it keeps running out of memory and the whole device slows down whenever I added a lot of channels to the dongle (so I'm sort of limited to around 15-20 content channels). Maybe it would be possible to have a bit more memory added to the hardware to mitigate this problem? Maybe add an MicroSD slot to allow storage of external content or as cache if adding more hardware memory to the device is not feasible.

I am not, along with many other of your other followers, a happy camper. I was so excited about this project, i invested $150, and then with another e-mail address another five. I was going to give them out so that everybody could get connected. I can see a delay of one month, even two or three, but there is as limit to the tolerance of your investors. I have a funny feeling that we are never going to see these products produced, but I hope I am wrong. We'll see.

What makes you guys think this is acceptable? delaying the project for 6 months and adding DRM. Geez, I trust you guys because you come from Mozilla, guess even big names can be a screw up. Totally regretting backing up this.

Just give me back my money. It will be hard to trust anything that comes from Mozilla ever again.

I know it's nice to keep adding new features and updating, however at some point you need to draw a line and call that your release. This is how projects end up failing - scope creep. Send out your units and then start doing revisions.

I think I will end up buying a chromecast. I've been holding out for this, it seemed like it had enough backers that it'd be on time and a good product. Second guessing my decision to back this kickstarter..

At last count there are now 5 (or more) streaming sticks out there, and more on the way (RoKu announced one too) so there is going to be plenty of choices. I am pretty sure out of 17,000 people, a significant number of people came here looking for a DIY open source stick to be able to tinker / hack and make it do what they wanted, and not "Just another media stick."

This is what it really boils down to, "Delays Happen, but when delays happen because the entire design of the product has been altered to be something the selling point wasn't, then it's false advertising, leading the consumer to believe that they are funding an open source device, and then change it."

It's like, "We are inventing this device called a 'car' that has 4 wheels and rolls, and you can drive it around from place to place..." what you get after investing, is a pogo stick.

Such a f-----g shame. I've mellowed a bit since the initial "update". The money is trivial, the delay is a bit of a kick in the teeth, mitigated in part by the hardware upgrade, but this whole project for me has been irrepairably soured by the terrible communications - inept and arrogant.

The team treat us, their backers, like s--t.

For the money, the product still sounds okay. Just not as good as when we all signed up. And the lamentable comms means I have no faith in the project delivering anything at all.

I think our money may be frittered away, and the project will fail, and at around the same time, the project's commercial streaming-content partners will suddenly start shipping a product strangely like the thing we've been asked to fund.

We all (U.S.) could have purchased a Chromestick on sale a month ago for less than what we paid here. We all waited for February! This is not acceptable! In what universe do you wait until shipment day and then announce a 6 month delay? DRM is not what people backed here. Stop screwing around and ship the darn product now! If not now, then give us all a refund!

I want my money back. I want either the device you promised, which is clearly not going to happen now, or what I paid. If I wanted a chromecast, is have just bought one and had it the months ago. There were three reasons I backed this. First, the development was finished & it only needed to be manufactured. Second, it was open source. And third, it was DRM-free. Those reasons are gone now. I could just get a raspberry pi for the price and be done with it.

Superbacker

For folks worried about refunds or DRM, it is worth having a look at the support & developer center link they put above. Quoting some relevant stuff from there - messaging the devs via kickstarter about a refund seems to just get you a 'check the Terms, you don't get a refund' response, but:

"We are processing the refund requests. Please message us directly on Kickstarter if you require a refund. This is to protect your privacy because we need to know some private information about your purchase in order to refund you.

Through Kickstarter, send us the Amazon Transaction ID (the long alphanumeric Transaction ID on your original purchase record from Amazon) along with your full name and email address you used for the original purchase, and the purchase amount. Once we receive all this information from you, we will process your refund through Amazon as soon as we can. "

...and in response to a query about DRM:

"...having DRM support does NOT mean we will not allow full access to the device. It is our goal to continue to give root access to our users. When there is a conflict between giving users full access to the dongle and DRM, we WILL allow users to make a choice. We will provide additional technical details as the DRM development progresses."

Personally, I don't much care about streaming services like Netflix and delays pretty much always happen with Kickstarters, but as long as it is still open for development, and the DRM is opt-in, it might still be a useful gadget.

While I'm not as angry as others about the DRM antifeatures (they made announcements about Netflix support earlier), I also think it's stupid to change the hardware, which was ready and of which even designs were shown on the project page. Clearly, the project team is setting wrong priorities and trying to skip steps that can't be skipped. I will try and get a refund, and if the company behind this goes bankrupt, it will deserve it.

I could have got a Chromecast for the same price, but because of the February ship date, I chose to support this Kickstarter campaign. Now its delayed... ***SIX MONTHS***?!?! Very disappointing. Ship what you promised, develop the next generation Matchstick on your own time. Or at least give us the option to get what we were promised or wait for something better. I'll probably just buy a Chromecast so that I can use it before the end of the summer...

DRM is uncool, but on the other hand it may turn out to be the one device that we can use for all the different content providers. The amount isn't big enough for me to care either way; but since it's software why not make it an option rather than a requirement?

... but it must have been clear prior to February that you won't be able to ship in February, right? Not that I mind a delay in a Kickstarter project too much - they happen. It's just that timely and open communication is essential.

I don't mind the delay. It's great that you're updating the hardware. But I specifically backed a device that runs free software. Now, you decided to break that promise by adding DRM. If this device doesn't run completely on free software, then I also want my money back. I know you can legally do whatever you want with the money, but that doesn't mean doing so is right.